Steelers, OLB Alex Highsmith Begin Extension Talks
Although the Steelers have the NFL’s highest-paid edge rusher on their cap sheet, signs continue to point to the team strongly considering making room for an Alex Highsmith extension as well. The T.J. Watt sidekick is going into a contract year, and the team has begun talks on a new deal.
Highsmith confirmed (via ESPN.com’s Brooke Pryor) his agent has started extension talks with the Steelers. The fourth-year pass rusher expressed optimism a deal will be completed, and given the dialogue over the past several months — including a strong endorsement on this front from GM Omar Khan — optimism makes sense.
[RELATED: Steelers Sign OLB Markus Golden]
With Watt out for a chunk of last season due to a pectoral injury, Highsmith stepped forward as Pittsburgh’s stop pass rusher. The former third-round pick tallied 14.5 sacks, the most by a non-Watt Steeler since James Harrison‘s 2008 Defensive Player of the Year season. That number tied for the fifth-most in Steelers history, and Highsmith’s 17.5 sacks over his past 20 games rank second in the NFL. This stands to put the franchise to a decision. It appears the Steelers are angling to keep Highsmith as a long-term Watt complementary presence.
Early optimism notwithstanding, these could be tricky negotiations. Highsmith, 25, zoomed onto the radar for a big payday last season, a showing that also included an NFL-leading five forced fumbles. Highsmith could bet on himself and aim for a big contract year, putting the Steelers to a choice of franchise-tagging him or reaching a deal to prevent a free agency departure. But just three of Highsmith’s 2022 sacks came during the seven games Watt missed. Watt naturally creates favorable matchups for the Steelers’ other pass rushers, but the team viewing Highsmith as a clear No. 2 edge could lead to negotiations beginning at a lower rate.
The Chargers are the NFL’s only team with two edge rushers (Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack) earning more than $20MM on average. The Giants now have two interior D-linemen (Leonard Williams, Dexter Lawrence) signed to deals in that neighborhood, but Williams is in a contract year. Pittsburgh will be expecting Watt to play at this level for several more years, and a Highsmith re-up would need to accompany his $28MM-per-year salary.
The Steelers have some flexibility here, with Kenny Pickett on a rookie contract and only one offensive player (Diontae Johnson) tied to an eight-figure-per-year deal. But Highsmith could certainly push for an extension north of $15MM per year. The Steelers will likely attempt to keep the price south of $20MM per annum, but while the franchise did not extend Bud Dupree after franchise-tagging him in 2020, it has a history of using this blueprint. Harrison and LaMarr Woodley teamed up on veteran extensions in the early 2010s, with Harrison signing his first extension in 2009 and Woodley joining him in 2011. Woodley stayed in Pittsburgh through the ’13 season. Highsmith’s resume is not quite where Woodley’s was prior to his extension, so it will be interesting to see what numbers emerge here during these talks.
Highsmith checked in as Dupree’s eventual replacement, coming from a mid-major program (Charlotte). Khan extended both Johnson and Minkah Fitzpatrick last summer. With the Steelers preferring to hammer out extensions before the candidate’s walk year, a resolution here should be expected in the coming weeks.
Javonte Williams Participating In OTAs
Javonte Williams‘ timetable continues to point to the talented running back being ready well before the Broncos’ regular season begins. After Sean Payton indicated Williams had a shot to avoid the active/PUP list and begin training camp on time, the third-year back was on the field for Denver’s OTA session Thursday.
Payton confirmed (via 9News’ Mike Klis) Williams worked in a limited capacity Thursday. Considering Williams’ position and the nature of his injury, any participation in OTAs represents good news for a Broncos team that lost much of its starting lineup to injury last season.
The Broncos lost Williams in Week 4 of last season, four days before they lost left tackle Garett Bolles for the year. Williams suffered ACL and LCL tears, along with posterolateral corner damage, and GM George Paton‘s April assessment — which hinted a return at some point during the 2023 season — did not paint a rosy outlook for the North Carolina alum. But everything since looks to signal Williams, barring a setback, will be ready in time for Week 1.
With Melvin Gordon out of the picture, Williams has a clear path toward the lead role in Denver’s backfield. Known for his tackle-shedding ability, the former second-round pick totaled 1,219 scrimmage yards as a rookie while playing alongside Gordon, who started for most of that 2021 season. The Broncos not only lost Williams on offense but played without Bolles, tackle Billy Turner, center Lloyd Cushenberry and wide receivers Tim Patrick and KJ Hamler for most or all of last season. Patrick, who suffered an ACL tear during training camp last year, has received full clearance to return.
Although Gordon and Mike Boone are no longer on the roster, the Broncos are expected to make free agent acquisition Samaje Perine a major part of their offense. Denver gave Perine a two-year, $7.5MM deal that came with $3MM guaranteed. Perine turned down a similar Bengals offer due to the prospect of increased playing time. With Payton often using multiple backs regularly — from the Pierre Thomas–Reggie Bush tandem to the more recent Alvin Kamara–Mark Ingram setup — it should be expected Perine will be asked to play a big role alongside Williams this season. From the looks of this situation in May, however, it does not appear Perine will be called upon to start in place of Williams early in the season.
S Tony Jefferson To Retire, Join Ravens’ Staff
After missing more than two years because of an ACL tear, Tony Jefferson managed to land roles with multiple teams over the past two seasons. But the veteran defender will choose to step away rather than attempting to play a 10th season.
Jefferson intends to retire, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. He has another gig lined up, with Schefter adding the former Ravens safety is expected to join the team’s scouting staff. Jefferson played four seasons with the Ravens, working as a Baltimore starter in three of those. The 31-year-old cover man wraps his career having played for four teams, beginning with the Cardinals and including late-career stops with the 49ers and Giants.
Jefferson will follow punter Sam Koch in retiring and joining Baltimore’s staff. Current Ravens inside linebackers coach Zach Orr did the same in the late 2010s, moving from Ravens defender to coach. Jefferson did not finish his career with the Ravens, closing out his NFL run with the Giants last season, but he will stay close to the game as a member of the franchise. The Ravens announced Jefferson will be working as a scouting intern this summer.
The Ravens have signed several veteran safeties to big-ticket deals over the past several years. Jefferson joined Eric Weddle, Earl Thomas and Marcus Williams in this group. Baltimore teamed Jefferson and Weddle from 2017-18, when the two operated as the team’s starting safeties together. Jefferson signed a four-year, $34MM deal with the Ravens in 2017 and started 35 games over the next three seasons. During Jefferson’s final year as a full-time Ravens starter (2018), the team finished first in total defense.
A Week 5 ACL tear sidelined Jefferson for most of Baltimore’s 14-2 2019 season, and the Ravens released him with a failed physical designation in February 2020. Jefferson spent the 2020 season out of football. He eventually caught on with the 49ers in June 2021 but only played in two games with the team. He circled back to the Ravens in November of that year and ended up rejoining DC Don Martindale in New York just before last season. The Ravens released Jefferson on roster-cutdown day last August, his past with Martindale led to a Giants practice squad agreement. He moved up to the active roster and played nine games for the playoff qualifier.
Jefferson finished his career with 67 starts, lasting nine years despite entering the league as a Cardinals UDFA in 2013. Part of Bruce Arians‘ first batch of UDFAs, Jefferson played a regular role on the 2014 and ’15 playoff-bound Cardinals teams. He teamed with the likes of Patrick Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu in Arizona’s 2015 secondary, which helped form a top-10 defense during a season that ended in the NFC championship game. Jefferson intercepted only four passes as a pro but registered 9.5 sacks and 34 tackles for loss. The future scout earned just more than $32MM as an NFL player.
Jimmy Garoppolo Not Yet Cleared From Foot Fracture
12:04pm: This unexpected delay stems from another surgery. Garoppolo spent months rehabbing his injured left foot but underwent surgery in March, Vic Tafur and Tashan Reed of The Athletic report (subscription required). While Garoppolo’s recovery timetable is unknown, this certainly explains why he is unavailable to start the Raiders’ on-field offseason work.
11:19am: Jimmy Garoppolo has failed to finish three of his past five seasons. The five-plus-year 49ers starter sustained his most recent injury — a fractured foot — in early December. The Raiders are not planning to rush him back.
The new Raiders quarterback has not yet received full clearance to return from the Jones fracture he suffered last season, per Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Josh McDaniels said Thursday the team has planned for this slow buildup, though Garoppolo may not take part in any on-field work until training camp (Twitter links).
“Everything that’s happened since we signed Jimmy, we knew ahead of time,” McDaniels said. “… Certainly had an awareness of all of it. Our preference is not to push it and rush anybody back at this point in time.”
This news comes a few months after reports surfaced about Garoppolo potentially being able to return for a 49ers Super Bowl LVII appearance. Brock Purdy‘s UCL tear shut down those prospects quickly, and Garoppolo would have been in line to return as a backup in that instance. Caution makes sense for the Raiders regarding Garoppolo, given his extensive injury past, but it is a bit surprising he would need to be held out until training camp.
The Raiders gave Garoppolo a three-year, $72.75MM deal and, despite meeting with the draft’s top five quarterback prospects, did not select a QB on the first two days. The team added former McDaniels charge Brian Hoyer and used a fourth-round pick on Aidan O’Connell. Garoppolo being out of the mix until late summer would allow his backups more work, but he has not endured a setback in his recovery, McDaniels said. The Raiders are expecting the 10th-year veteran to be ready to begin the season on time.
Garoppolo needing additional offseason recovery time represents familiar territory. He was in this boat last year, after undergoing shoulder surgery. Garoppolo’s March 2022 procedure effectively squashed his trade prospects, leading to an agreement to stay in San Francisco. The 49ers turned out to need their longtime passer, with Trey Lance going down in Week 2. Garoppolo kept the reins until his Jones fracture during a Dec. 4 game against the Dolphins.
In the days immediately following Garoppolo’s foot injury, uncertainty emerged regarding a potential late-season return. Kyle Shanahan did not express much optimism Garoppolo would come back, but the 49ers did not place him on IR. Reportedly facing a seven- or eight-week recovery timetable, Garoppolo did not undergo surgery and rehabbed for a possible return. The veteran passer did not make it back to practice in the final days of his Bay Area stay, and it appears he will have more time than expected before returning to full on-field work.
The Raiders ended their nine-season Derek Carr partnership in February and guaranteed Garoppolo $33.75MM in March. While Carr delivered a middling run as the Silver and Black’s starter, he did offer durability. Garoppolo does not. Counting the 49ers’ three playoff games in January, the 31-year-old passer has missed 33 games due to injury since suffering an ACL tear in September 2018. Garoppolo played every game for the Super Bowl LIV-bound 49ers team a year later but suffered an ankle injury that shortened his 2020 season to six games. San Francisco’s starter battled calf, thumb and shoulder maladies in 2021, needing two surgeries coming out of that season.
AFC East Notes: Pats, Dolphins, Hamlin, Bills
The Patriots will join the list of teams to lose OTA days due to minor violations. The NFL docked the Pats two OTA sessions, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com tweets. New England did not practice Wednesday and will see another of its sessions nixed next week. The violation is believed to stem from the NFLPA expressing concern about the Pats’ meeting schedule. A 15-minute special teams meeting appearing on the team’s internal schedule was deemed mandatory in nature, and not voluntary, by the union, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes. Bill Belichick incurred a $50K fine, Greg Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal tweets, noting Joe Judge was involved in the violation as well (Twitter links). Pats players were aware they were being asked to stay longer than allowed, per veteran reporter Mike Giardi (on Twitter), with Reiss adding the team was fully cooperative with the NFL inquiry.
While on-field contact has triggered these penalties at various points in the recent past, the Pats’ violation is believed to pertain to only the meeting issue. This punishment certainly can be interpreted as steep for the reported infraction, though the NFLPA made reduced offseason work a key component during the 2011 and 2020 CBA talks.
Here is the latest from the AFC East:
- Austin Jackson is back at work for the Dolphins, per the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, participating in OTA sessions after undergoing reconstructive ankle surgery (Twitter link). Jackson did not undergo surgery upon initially injury his ankle — in Week 1 — as Miami’s starting right tackle attempted to return in Week 12. Jackson played 70 offensive snaps in that December game but did not suit up again last season. The Dolphins said before the draft they are planning to give Jackson another shot as their top right tackle, though they subsequently passed on his fifth-year option.
- Miami did not draft a tackle, but the team did add ex-New England starter Isaiah Wynn. The former first-rounder is working at multiple positions during OTAs, Mike McDaniel said (via Jackson). League rules prohibit media from reporting which positions Wynn is playing, but the former Patriots left tackle did play guard for three seasons at Georgia. Wynn has spent most of his NFL time at left tackle and struggled on the right side following a 2022 position switch. The Dolphins have Terron Armstead locked in at left tackle, but the ex-Saints blocker has run into numerous injury issues during his career. He missed four games last season. Wynn’s Dolphins path could feature a starting right tackle role, a spot as the team’s swingman or potentially a guard gig. Left guard Liam Eichenberg has not solidified his position like right guard Robert Hunt has.
- Damar Hamlin has made remarkable strides in his recovery and is fully expected to resume his career this season. But the Bills are playing it cautiously. Hamlin received full clearance to return and has worked out with teammates this offseason, but The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia notes the third-year safety is not yet participating in OTAs (Twitter link). Hamlin’s progress continues to be a situation to monitor in Buffalo, considering the historically rare circumstances he encountered after making a routine tackle in January.
- A year after re-signing Matt Milano, the Bills let Tremaine Edmunds walk in free agency. The five-year starting linebacker signed a monster Bears contract and left a hole in the Bills’ lineup. Buffalo is likely to look in-house to replace Edmunds, with WGRZ’s Vic Carucci indicating Tyrel Dodson and 2022 third-round pick Terrel Bernard will compete for the middle ‘backer job. A former UDFA, Dodson made three starts last year. He played 220 defensive snaps. Starting one game as a rookie, Bernard played 110. The Bills also brought back veteran A.J. Klein, who has 82 starts on his resume (16 with Buffalo), in April.
Patriots To Sign TE Anthony Firkser
Two months after trading Jonnu Smith to the Falcons, the Patriots will pick up one of Atlanta’s recent tight ends. Anthony Firkser agreed to terms with New England on Thursday, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com tweets.
This will mark a Massachusetts return for Firkser, a Harvard alum, and another ex-Titan tight end to join the Patriots. After Tennessee let Smith walk in 2021, the team turned to Firkser as a replacement option. With Smith now in Atlanta, New England will see what Firkser has to offer alongside Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki.
Firkser, 28, spent four seasons with the Titans before rejoining ex-Tennessee tight ends coach Arthur Smith in Atlanta. Despite Kyle Pitts going down with a season-ending injury midway through last year, Firkser did not make much of a statistical impact with the Falcons. He is coming off a nine-catch, 100-yard season. Pro Football Focus did grade Firkser as one of the top pass-protecting tight ends last year, but he only played 148 offensive snaps in Atlanta.
The Falcons added Firkser on a one-year deal worth just $1.2MM in 2022, bringing him in to replace Hayden Hurst. Atlanta did not feature a high-octane passing attack, preferring to lean on the ground game as Marcus Mariota started 13 games before rookie Desmond Ridder finished the year. Firkser fared a bit better in Tennessee, totaling 387 receiving yards in 2020 and 291 in 2021.
The Pats were able to land Gesicki — a 2022 franchise tag recipient — one a one-year deal worth just $4.5MM. Henry is going into Year 3 of a three-year, $37.5MM contract. The Pats have not quite received what they’d hoped when they splurged for Henry and Smith in 2021, but this year’s edition features plenty of experience. Henry is going into his eighth NFL season; Gesicki and Firkser each are entering their sixth years.
Jaguars Sign K Brandon McManus
It did not take long for Brandon McManus to find a new home. The longtime Broncos kicker reached an agreement to join the Jaguars. The Jags announced the deal Thursday.
While Denver has enjoyed kicker stability over the past decade, Jacksonville has cycled through several options at the position in recent years. The defending AFC South champions will now add an experienced specialist. The Jags waived kicker Riley Patterson to make room on their roster.
McManus, 31, called his Broncos release an “absolute shock,” per Denver7’s Troy Renck. He will rebound quickly, with Adam Schefter of ESPN.com noting this is a one-year Jaguars agreement (Twitter links). McManus will bring nine years’ experience as an NFL kicker, having taken over for Matt Prater in Denver in 2014. While Jacksonville will not offer the altitude advantage Denver provides kickers, the former Super Bowl-winning specialist will move to a team in better position to contend.
The Broncos had extended McManus on a four-year, $17.2MM deal before the 2020 season. Although two years remained on that contract, Sean Payton continues to make special teams changes with his new team. This marks a major change for Denver, which has only used three primary kickers (McManus, Prater, Jason Elam) since 1993. Patterson ended up lasting only one season as Jacksonville’s kicker.
Although McManus served as Denver’s kicker for a lengthy stretch, he is coming off his most inaccurate season since 2017. The former UDFA made just 77.8% of his field goals last season. While one of those was a 64-yard try at sea level — via Nathaniel Hackett‘s bizarre Week 1 decision that began an odd Broncos season — McManus missed four other attempts from beyond 50 yards and two from inside 40 yards. McManus did make eight 50-plus-yard field goal tries last season, marking the second-most of his career. He connected on 10 such attempts in 2020.
McManus served as a significant contributor to the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50-winning season. As Peyton Manning‘s injury-accelerated decline hit in full force in 2015, McManus went 10-for-10 on field goal tries during the playoffs. That included three Super Bowl makes. While the Broncos have largely struggled since that night, McManus represented the most consistent presence on the roster. He will now attempt to carve out a multiyear role with a second NFL employer.
Whereas the Broncos employed McManus since 2014, the Jaguars have used eight kickers in just the past three seasons. Patterson brought stability, after a six-kicker 2020 and multi-kicker 2021. The Jags brought in Patterson as a waiver claim just before last season, adding the young kicker shortly after the Lions waived him. Patterson made 85.7% of his field goal tries last year and was 36 of 37 on extra points. While Patterson only made three kicks from beyond 50 yards, that came on three attempts.
Steelers To Sign OLB Markus Golden
While Bud Dupree left his Pittsburgh visit without a deal, the Steelers are not letting Markus Golden do the same. The veteran edge rusher met with the team today and intends to sign, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
The sides agreed on a one-year contract. This comes two-plus months after the Cardinals cut ties with Golden, who enjoyed two stints in Arizona. The ninth-year outside linebacker will now be positioned to work as a rotational rusher behind starters T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.
This signing gives the Steelers four pass rushers who have totaled a double-digit sack season. Altogether, this quartet — Watt, Highsmith, Golden, Cameron Heyward — has combined for 11 such seasons. Golden has contributed three over the course of his career, the most recent coming in 2021 (11 sacks). While Golden did not approach that total last season, he displayed similar pressure numbers by totaling more quarterback hits (20) than he did in 2021 (19).
Golden is heading into his age-32 season, making this signing similar to the Melvin Ingram addition of 2021. The Steelers will obviously hope this turns out better. They ended up trading a disgruntled Ingram to Kansas City, where he closed out his age-32 season. Golden has a more productive recent past compared to Ingram at this point in their respective careers.
Consistency has eluded Golden, however. The former second-round pick surged to a career-best 12.5 sacks in 2016, but a 2017 ACL tear sapped that momentum. Golden did not regain his pre-surgery form in 2018, leading to the Giants taking a one-year flier during the 2019 free agency period. That bet paid off. After trading Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon in consecutive offseasons, the Giants saw Golden lead their 2019 edition in sacks (10). New York placed the rarely used UFA tender on Golden in 2020 but traded him back to Arizona that October. Golden spent the past two-plus seasons with the Cardinals, delivering up-and-down production.
With Chandler Jones out for most of the 2020 season, Golden totaled just three sacks as a Cardinal. The Cards still re-signed Golden to a two-year, $5MM deal in 2021, leading to the 11-sack showing opposite Jones. That production then led to the Cards adding a year to Golden’s deal, though the team’s new regime bailed on that extra year in March. With Jones in Las Vegas last year, Golden totaled just 2.5 sacks — his lowest number since 2017.
This Pittsburgh pact should offer Golden plenty of favorable matchups. Watt and Michael Strahan share the official single-season sack record (22.5), and Highsmith moved himself onto the extension radar with a 14.5-sack slate late year. The Steelers have not received the production they have sought from their top OLB backup in recent years; Ingram and Malik Reed each registered one sack during their respective years in Pittsburgh. (Reed, a 2022 trade acquisition, has since signed with the Dolphins.) Golden should provide a higher floor for this role, as the Steelers — the league’s sack champions from 2017-21 — aim to keep their pass rush elite.
Patrick Mahomes Addresses Contract
Patrick Mahomes‘ contract has come up a few times this year, and once Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert are extended, the issue figures to be a regular talking point. The most accomplished of the league’s current wave of 20-something quarterbacks has been passed over several times now, with no QB yet to follow Mahomes’ 10-year extension blueprint.
That 10-year, $450MM deal drew scrutiny in the moment, tying the game’s biggest star to a team for 12 seasons. Nine remain on the Chiefs quarterback’s contract. A rumor earlier this offseason pointed to the Chiefs restoring Mahomes as the game’s highest-paid player by Week 1. With Mahomes signed through 2031, the mechanisms of Kansas City doing so would be unusual. But the two-time MVP is not making an aggressive push for a new deal — at least not publicly.
“I’ve always said I worry about legacy and winning rings more than making money at this moment,” Mahomes said, via ESPN’s Adam Teicher. “We see what’s going on around the league, but at the same time, I’ll never do anything that’s going to hurt us from keeping the great players around me. So it’s kind of teetering around that line.”
Whereas Rob Gronkowski‘s lengthy Patriots extension once gridlocked the tight end market for a stretch in the 2010s, Mahomes’ pact did not serve as a roadblock for other extension-seeking QBs. Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson, Kyler Murray, Russell Wilson, Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson have all passed Mahomes’ $45MM AAV number within three years. Teams have successfully made Watson’s fully guaranteed Browns deal an outlier, but Hurts and Jackson just signed for north of $50MM apiece on five-year re-ups. Questions about each dual-threat QB’s prime duration aside, both Jackson and Hurts may well be in position to cash in again later in the 2020s. Mahomes’ lengthy deal would, in a vacuum, not force the Chiefs’ hand.
Then again, GM Brett Veach said earlier this offseason the team would reexamine Mahomes’ contract once Burrow and Herbert signed. Seeing as not to enter a dispute with the biggest star in franchise history, the Chiefs would seem unlikely to refuse a renegotiation.
“You just want to do whatever to not hurt other quarterbacks [financially],” Mahomes said. “Whenever their contracts come up, you want to keep the bar pushing [higher]. It’s not about being the highest-paid guy; it’s not about making a ton of money. I’ve made enough money where I’ll be set for the rest of my life. But at the same time, you got to find that line where you’re making a good amount of money but you’re still keeping a lot of great players around you so you can win these Super Bowls and you’re able to compete in these games.”
When Mahomes signed his extension in July 2020, he passed Wilson’s AAV lead by $10MM and only did so because he signed off on the unusual term length. While the Chiefs included a rolling guarantee structure that locks in money a year out, Mahomes will likely soon see his deal trail the game’s salary leader by more than $10MM. Burrow or Herbert ending up at $55MM per year or beyond that point is not difficult to envision.
But the team-friendly deals Mahomes and Travis Kelce accepted in 2020 allowed the Chiefs to extend Chris Jones. The All-Pro defensive tackle has maintained top form and is now in a contract year again. The Chiefs, who passed on paying Tyreek Hill top-market money and let the Patriots outbid them for JuJu Smith-Schuster, will also have second-round standouts Creed Humphrey and Nick Bolton in contract years in 2024. Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed became extension-eligible in January, though the Chiefs have avoided paying corners for most of the Andy Reid era.
“If you look at the greats in the league, they find that right spot where they’re getting paid a lot of money but at the same time keeping a lot of these great players around,” Mahomes said. “… I understand you look at the team and you’ve got guys like Chris and Sneed and even Travis — all these guys that you need to keep around you to have these great teams. But at the same time, you want to make sure you’re taking care of yourself.”
Not all the QBs around the league have operated this way; Mahomes doing so has certainly aided the Chiefs. With the two-time Super Bowl champion not exactly shutting down the idea of a renegotiated deal, this will be a key NFL storyline as the Bengals and Chargers navigate their respective negotiations.
Minor NFL Transactions: 5/24/23
Here are Wednesday’s minor moves:
Denver Broncos
- Waived (injury settlement): T Hunter Thedford
Detroit Lions
- Waived: LB Isaac Darkangelo
Indianapolis Colts
- Waived: G Harris LaChance
New York Jets
- Signed: WR Jerome Kapp
Kapp will catch on with the Jets following a run at the team’s rookie minicamp. He will attempt to make the jump from the Division II level (Kutztown University). The D-II team relied on Kapp through the air last season; he was the squad’s only player to record more than 250 receiving yards. Kapp finished with 916 (19.5 per catch) and nine touchdowns as a senior.